Drawer Space
by CSIHuntermom
Summary: I wrote this last year for a friend. I thought I'd publish it in honor of the deleted Catherine/Nick scene from the Pilot.


A **HUGE **Thank you to **csi_kris **for the beta.

To all the Catherine and Nick fans in honor of the 'deleted scene'

Drawer Space

It was a hard night. The harsh case she had been working on was taking its toll on her. _What kind of SOB takes their frustration out on their own child? She was just a little girl,_ rattled in Catherine's head. She tried to erase the blood soaked images of the crime scene from her mind.

She sighed and felt her body practically fall to the bench in the locker room.

Slowly and without thought, she pulled the coveralls from the upper part of her body exposing her sweat-stained t-shirt. After she attempted to remove the rest of the dirty coveralls off her fatigued body, she thought of the discussion she had earlier with Nick.

It's not like she was _exactly hiding _her relationship with Nick but she felt no need to announce it to the lab. She didn't want to deal with the rumors and speculation that she and Nick were 'sleeping together' when they meant so much more to each other.

The gruesome crime scene took precedence over her personal life, until now.

"I mean, why not? It's not like I'm not there all the time anyway," Nick smiled at Catherine from across the table in the break room. "All I want is some drawer space."

"I'm just not sure," Catherine replied returning a full smile to Nick. "It just seems so fast, that's all." She said keeping her eyes on Nick.

Nick's eyes found Catherine's and stayed on her brilliant blue eyes.

His hand reached across the table to grasp hers. She met his half-way as she slid her hand into his.

The door of the break room opened and Catherine quickly pulled her hand out of his.

His face fell as Catherine turned to see who was interrupting their quiet moment together.

"Oh, there you are," Grissom said to Catherine. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, why?" Catherine asked puzzled.

"Good, because you'll need all your strength for this scene… "

Without saying anything else, Grissom turned and walked out the door of the break room.

"I'd… a… I'd better get going," Catherine commented.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Nick agreed.

"I'll see you later?" She questioned before giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Sure," Nick stuttered, "sure, I'll see you later." He answered trying hard to hide his hurt and frustration.

Her week body could barely remove the rest of the standard issue attire for a crime scene that messy. All she wanted to do was to go home and shower away the awfulness of the day. She wanted to escape_ that particular _horribleness that came with her job. The warm covers of her bed were calling to her as, without though, she opened her locker to redress.

A plain white envelope caught her eye. It was taped to the inside of her locker with her name written across the front. She ignored it and continued to dress.

Instead of taking the envelope off the inside of her locker, she sat down again on the bench. Her eyes closed and she briefly thought she would never make it out of the lab if her eyes stayed closed much longer. She opened her eyes, rubbed them and reached for her purse. Then Nick crossed her mind, again.

Catherine knew that Nick was hurt. She could read his expression and know what he is thinking. One of the things she liked about him, he was easy to read. But, not just everyone could read Nick Stokes like she could.

After she stood to leave and go home to erase the day, her curiosity piqued.

She sat down on the bench again, opened her locker then noticed her name.

A finger traced the letters of the writing she recognized.

Her hand opened the envelope immediately and began to read….

_Somehow I heard that no one has written you a poem._

_I know it doesn't rhyme but it's from the heart, so…._

_Catherine,_

_From the moment I saw you, you had my heart,_

_I knew I didn't want us to be apart._

_Your blue eyes melt me_

_I want to look into them forever._

_The first time we made love,_

_I knew we would be together forever and ever._

_I love you with all that I am._

_And I want to be the man,_

_The man you want for the rest of your life._

_Nick_

A shadow darkened the doorway of the locker room. Catherine didn't pay attention to it as she read the poem again.

Nick stood watching the sight of an overtired Catherine.

Her eyes lifted from the poem. Her lips pulled into a full smile at the sight of Nick.

His eyes met hers.

Next thing she knew, he was standing right in front of her.

"You can have all the drawer space you want," Catherine grinned.

FIN


End file.
